Limitations to upscaling of groundwater flow models dominated by surface water interaction

Vermeulen, Peter; Stroet, Chris B. M. te; Heemink, A.W.

doi:10.1029/2005wr004620

Cited by 20 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 36 publications

(44 reference statements)

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“…& How should we deal with heterogeneity, how do we scale up processes, properties and model parameters (see, e.g. Bárdossy and Singh 2011;de Marsily et al 2005;Fleckenstein et al 2006;Götzinger and Bardossy 2007;McDonnell et al 2007;Noetinger et al 2005;Samaniego et al 2010;Vermeulen et al 2006)?…”

Section: Regional Integrated Modelling In View Of General Challenges mentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater and Surface Water Interaction at the Regional-scale – A Review with Focus on Regional Integrated Models

Barthel

Banzhaf

2015

Water Resour Manage

200

124

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Scientists and practitioners agree that integrated water resource management is necessary, with an increasing need for research at the regional scale (10 3 to 10 5 km 2 ). At this scale interactions between environmental and human systems are fully developed and global change is linked to local actions. The groundwater-surface water interaction (GW-SW) is of particular interest. Herein we review the scientific journal literature and examine GW-SW at the regional scale. We briefly review all existing literature on GW-SW, then summarise its characteristics at different scales and identify specific challenges of the regional scale. We explore whether GW-SW should be treated differently at regional and local scales. Regional GW-SW is rarely examined in experimental field studies, which almost exclusively cover small areas. However, GW-SW is often integral to large scale coupled models. Thus, we collate information about existing models and their regional applications. Fully coupled, physics-based models have great potential to meet the technical challenges. However, limited data availability hampers the application of complex models at the regional scale and loosely coupled schemes are more widely applied. Many integrated modelling concepts have been published, but none have been applied in a wide range of settings. Thus, it is impossible to compare the performance of different approaches. Comparative analyses of existing regional scale integrated models in the context of different data availability and geographic conditions are needed. Unfortunately, peer-reviewed journal literature no longer provides a representative picture of the subject as models are becoming Btoo big to be published^or too pragmatic.

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Section: Regional Integrated Modelling In View Of General Challenges mentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater and Surface Water Interaction at the Regional-scale – A Review with Focus on Regional Integrated Models

Barthel

Banzhaf

2015

Water Resour Manage

200

124

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“…On the other hand, equivalent conductivity represents an average value of hydraulic conductivity within a given block in a given realization. Equivalent conductivities are computed to satisfy certain criteria, such as flow conservation, head reproduction or energy dissipation (Renard and Marsily, 1997;Vermeulen et al, 2006). Under certain conditions, effective conductivity and equivalent conductivity coincide; this happens when the random function describing hydraulic conductivity is stationary, ergodic, satisfy some symmetry properties, and the block size for which the equivalent conductivity is sought is much larger than the scale of correlation of the underlying random function (Matheron, 1967).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three-dimensional hydraulic conductivity upscaling in groundwater modeling

Zhou

Gómez‐Hernández

2010

Computers & Geosciences

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The main point of this paper is to propose a non-local three-dimensional hydraulic conductivity full tensor upscaling algorithm and code. The algorithm is capable of transforming very refined cell conductivity models into coarse block conductivity models for quick and accurate solution of the groundwater flow equation. Flow rate and hydraulic head gradient are the variables used to relate the outputs from the fine scale model to the outputs from the coarse scale model. The flows and gradients computed at the coarse scale blocks should match the average values of the corresponding quantities observed at the fine scale. The algorithm is geared towards its use in conjunction with finite-difference codes for the solution of the groundwater flow equation capable of handling full tensor hydraulic conductivities. The finite-difference formulation of the groundwater flow equation requires specifying the hydraulic conductivity at the block interface in order to compute the discharge crossing the interface. Most finite-difference codes take as input conductivities at the blocks and then perform some type of averaging to come up with the interblock conductivity. Typically the harmonic mean of the conductivities of neighboring blocks is used. We propose computing directly the interblock conductivity during the upscaling process thus avoiding the need to average already averaged (upscaled) values of adjacent blocks. This approach also circumvents the problem associated with averaging conductivity tensors when their principal directions are not aligned with the Cartesian axes. The proposed algorithm is successfully demonstrated in four synthetic examples with spatially isotropic, anisotropic and bimodal conductivities fields at the fine scale. The computer code is provided with explanation of the input parameters and output results.

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“…As illustrated in Fig. 5, a single LOMOS allows the monitoring, based on water pressure and temperature measurements, of stream cross sections ranging from 0.1-∼ 10 m. LOMOS data are used with coupled thermo-hydro models to determine the properties of the aquifer units and the river beds (Mouhri et al, 2013), which can be used to assess the value of the conductance at the watershed scale (Mehl and Hill, 2002;Morel-Seytoux, 2009;Vermeulen et al, 2006;Rushton, 2007). Assuming that it is possible to distribute multiple LOMOS data, and the associated conductance values, along a stream network (for instance using FO-DTS -Fibre Optic Distributed Thermal Sensors), local in situ data become the basis of a broader surface-subsurface modelling at the watershed scale.…”

Section: Coupled In Situ Modelling Approaches: From Local To Watershementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a consequence, the averaging induces uncertainties in the assessment of head below the river. The conductance parameter hence is scale dependent (Vermeulen et al, 2006). Morel-Seytoux (2009) proposed to relate the exchange flux to the near-river piezometric head, h c , (Eq.…”

Section: The Conductance Model At the Intermediate Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

Continental hydrosystem modelling: the concept of nested stream–aquifer interfaces

Flipo

Mouhri

Labarthe

et al. 2014

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Coupled hydrological-hydrogeological models, emphasising the importance of the stream-aquifer interface, are more and more used in hydrological sciences for pluridisciplinary studies aiming at investigating environmental issues. Based on an extensive literature review, stream-aquifer interfaces are described at five different scales: local [10 cm- . This led us to develop the concept of nested stream-aquifer interfaces, which extends the well-known vision of nested groundwater pathways towards the surface, where the mixing of low frequency processes and high frequency processes coupled with the complexity of geomorphological features and heterogeneities creates hydrological spiralling. This conceptual framework allows the identification of a hierarchical order of the multi-scale control factors of stream-aquifer hydrological exchanges, from the larger scale to the finer scale. The hyporheic corridor, which couples the river to its 3-D hyporheic zone, is then identified as the key component for scaling hydrological processes occurring at the interface. The identification of the hyporheic corridor as the support of the hydrological processes scaling is an important step for the development of regional studies, which is one of the main concerns for water practitioners and resources managers.In a second part, the modelling of the stream-aquifer interface at various scales is investigated with the help of the conductance model. Although the usage of the temperature as a tracer of the flow is a robust method for the assessment of stream-aquifer exchanges at the local scale, there is a crucial need to develop innovative methodologies for assessing stream-aquifer exchanges at the regional scale. After formulating the conductance model at the regional and intermediate scales, we address this challenging issue with the development of an iterative modelling methodology, which ensures the consistency of stream-aquifer exchanges between the intermediate and regional scales.Finally, practical recommendations are provided for the study of the interface using the innovative methodology MIM (Measurements-Interpolation-Modelling), which is graphically developed, scaling in space the three pools of methods needed to fully understand stream-aquifer interfaces at various scales. In the MIM space, stream-aquifer interfaces that can be studied by a given approach are localised. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated with two examples. The first one proposes an upscaling framework, structured around river reaches of ∼ 10-100 m, from the local to the watershed scale. The second example highlights the usefulness of space borne data to improve the assessment of streamaquifer exchanges at the regional and continental scales. We conclude that further developments in modelling and field measurements have to be undertaken at the regional scale to enable a proper modelling of stream-aquifer exchanges from the local to the continental scale.

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Limitations to upscaling of groundwater flow models dominated by surface water interaction

Cited by 20 publications

References 36 publications

Groundwater and Surface Water Interaction at the Regional-scale – A Review with Focus on Regional Integrated Models

Groundwater and Surface Water Interaction at the Regional-scale – A Review with Focus on Regional Integrated Models

Three-dimensional hydraulic conductivity upscaling in groundwater modeling

Continental hydrosystem modelling: the concept of nested stream–aquifer interfaces

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